Loopy Pro: Create music, your way.
What is Loopy Pro? — Loopy Pro is a powerful, flexible, and intuitive live looper, sampler, clip launcher and DAW for iPhone and iPad. At its core, it allows you to record and layer sounds in real-time to create complex musical arrangements. But it doesn’t stop there—Loopy Pro offers advanced tools to customize your workflow, build dynamic performance setups, and create a seamless connection between instruments, effects, and external gear.
Use it for live looping, sequencing, arranging, mixing, and much more. Whether you're a live performer, a producer, or just experimenting with sound, Loopy Pro helps you take control of your creative process.
Download on the App StoreLoopy Pro is your all-in-one musical toolkit. Try it for free today.
Comments
toy kazoos, LOL
Also, I know we and the music devs take this whole thing pretty seriously, but I can't imagine that the whole iOS music scene is a big deal to Apple, if really on their radar at all. Sure they've built in very solid framework (Core Audio, Core MIDI, whatever that stuff is that makes it all possible) but music has never been a large part of their revenue.
I guess it is on their radar at some level: I'm encouraged to see Apple start to promote music making in their advertisements (That "gigantic" song and then Yaoband from China). But why would they have PR promoting music while the iOS development side is busy breaking things for music??
[picks up burning stick from fire] Whoever at Apple had the vision/ authority to invest in PR for iOS music needs to make sure iOS 8 is smoothly running all those music apps!
[puts stick back in fire] and this is somewhat assuring. Since Apple is presumably a well-run company, I can only imagine that the PR push for music is a sign that the higher level minds at iOS HQ are interested in increasing the usage of iOS for music, and therefore will make sure the OS is able to run music apps. I'm hoping whoever that person is sits down in some boardroom with the iOS team and says "Hey, we need iOS to work great with music creation... so fix it NOW!"
Either way, iOS music is an endless source of fun for me. Way more rewarding and therapeutic than gaming. I think that the innovative developers who originally figured out how to make music apps will continue to innovate around the limitations and quirks of iOS 8. And for those brilliant people, I'm very grateful. It's been fun, and I have no doubt it will continue to be as things progress.
@Hmtx "Whoever at Apple had the vision/ authority to invest in PR for iOS music needs to make sure iOS 8 is smoothly running all those music apps!"
This ^^^^
They are also "working with" Positive Grid on the AAC issue so, in some sense, "care" - I think...
http://emusician.com/gear/1332/positive-grid-and-apple-join-forces-on-final-touch-app/49120
< Rearranges logs with poker... >
Another thought: last I heard, China preordered 20 MILLION iPhone 6 devices last week. ...where Yaoband is from... not likely a coincidence that this summer Apple promoted a band from China. https://www.apple.com/your-verse/striking-a-new-chord/
So it may be safe to say that everybody, (including iOS 8 itself) needs to get ready for our friends from Asia to join the iOS music scene in large numbers.
[Picks up bellows and buckets of water, one in either hand, uncertain which to employ]
Marketing to new audiences with established products/brands is perception work more than anything else. May not make sense, may not be fair etc etc, but my take on the use of iOS music in recent promotions is that the pushed perception of the music is but associative glitter to the larger product folks are intended to buy and use for largely other purposes.
^I would call that a bucket o' cold water :-( but probably more realistic and accurate, considering how music did not seem to be an important factor in the latest iOS update.
Thanks, everyone, for the great discussion. I've read all of the posts and there is a lot here. I wanted to comment on a few of the things that have stuck in my mind.
First, regarding Tarekith's post about the Apple way, I think he's right, and especially so when it comes to iOS. For whatever reason, and I honestly don't care what it is -- furious capitalism or keeping customers at the bleeding edge of technology -- iOS devices and apps have shorter shelf-lives than the traditional DAWs and associated software that some of us may be used to. (I'm coming from the background of having used DAWs and hardware on and off since about 1997). Of course you don't have to upgrade your device if it works perfectly fine, but the rush forward of both hardware and software will continue irrespective of whether you or the apps you use are ready for it or not. The upgrade cycle is not so short for DAWs and VSTs/AUs, which leads to greater stability.
I agree that Apple probably doesn't "care" whether a certain group of niche apps for niche users are ready or not. I don't mean that Apple doesn't care in a callous "let's screw iOS music app users," but more in an attention/focus way. We are a niche of a niche. If iOS had broken Clash of Clans, Angry Birds or Minecraft, you can believe that Apple would have taken notice because thery would have had a lot more angry customers. The fact is that we're a small part of a much larger user base.
Ultimately, I think that at this point the users that have decided either to dedicate themselves to one closed system (Gadget, Caustic, etc.) or to focus on a small set of apps have the right idea. I don't know that I agree that we're demanding too much of the technology, especially when I see apps work together. What I think is that all developers are not created equal and some have separated themselves from the pack by creating stable and issue-free apps that are, quite frankly, astounding to carry around in your purse/messenger bag/back pocket. What's incredibly disappointing is seeing larger developers, like Korg, for instance, who I assume have MORE resources than smaller developers, make bad decisions in designing their apps. Gadget is a case in point. I purchased Bilbao and Abu Dhabi when they launched and I regret it. Admittedly, I jumped the gun, but it never occurred to me that a company like Korg would create not one but TWO sampling instruments and do such a bad job with sample management. I should have waited and that's on me. Patience is definitely a virtue when it comes to the new ish, but my goodness, these sorts of things boggle my mind. Especially when so much of the rest of the app is pretty outstanding.
EDIT: another example comes to mind. Strom has been released and rearranges slices of recorded audio with no clicks. Slicing/chopping audio in iMPC Pro results in clicks. The former was created by a small developer, possibly one person. The latter was created by a developer that's been contracted by at least two big names in digital music instruments -- Akai and Arturia. Given that zero crossing seems pretty damn essential when slicing/chopping beats, how is it possible that the issue was not addressed before iMPC Pro was released? And why hasn't it been fixed? (And btw, if I'm wrong about this issue, PLEASE PLEASE let me know. I gave iMPC Pro another go a few days ago, and had loads of clicks when I was chopping/slicing things). Kymatica also added micro-fades to Sector to deal with this issue after it was pointed out. Again, another small developer. I don't get it.
And, incidentally, I didn't mean to refer to "iOS music" as a separate genre or thing. The title of the thread was shorthand for i wonder what other people on this board think about the state of using iOS music apps standalone, in conjunction with other apps, in conjunction with DAWs, other musicians, etc. to make music.
@papertiger @Hmtx I appreciate this will only be visible to those with FB accounts, but, perhaps it would be good to remind Apple of ;-)
If anyone finds the original pic / quote - by all means add it in:
https://www.facebook.com/nafme/photos/a.190997800969495.41511.155351014534174/692877587448178/?type=1
[Edit - I found the quote - put in next comment ]
< Throws another log on the fire >
Here we go:
"When introducing the iPad 2 in March, Jobs summarized his strategy this way: “It is in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.” "
^ Also giant bags of money. Pretty sure that was in there somewhere. :P
OK. That's it. I'm out.
Started a recording session tonight. Bear in mind I have not changed anything on my device in quite some time, and last time I tried it worked.
So... I started with freeing some memory by deleting unused bins from MTD .Then I flushed the ram (is that what it's called? Power button until shut down slider appears, then home button until it disappears). Then set the device in airplane mode. Not much more I can do I think?
Started up AB, loaded iGrand as input and MTD as output. Doesn't work. iGrand works with speaker as output in AB, but not with MTD. This worked a couple of weeks ago, and I didn't change anything. Even stand-alone it works for a while. Then I have to disconnect and reconnect the interface, which works sometimes. The rest of the times I get hanging notes.
Also get crackling noises at playback in Drum Studio with no other apps running. How much cpu/ram can that consume on its own?
I feel a bit sad about all of this actually, as I have enjoyed making music on the iPad, but all the hassle really takes the fun out of it, so I'll quit now.
Actually... wasn't the opposite one of the selling points for iOS music before? Fire up and get going in no time. Not so much now.
Kinda' like it here though, so I'll probably stick around.
@Carlsson End of your tether, eh? It is s'posed to be fun after all. Hope you stick around the old place, I have plans for you to do the Joe Cocker vocals spot in the Forum Oldies Grand Electronic Yeomen band I'm putting together (in the imaginary recesses of my mind...)
Yeah, I understand your frustration, @Carlsson. Just commit to taking a break from iOS music and don't do anything drastic.
@SecretBaseDesign said:
Agreed. Astonishing. The car was not only running but it was running on a new untested highway and with about 500 other car drivers/makers counting on the engine being fixed properly and with enough time to get theirs fixed too.
ALL WHILE EATING ICE CREAM ON A YACHT WITH JIMMY FALLON.
When iPad music was in its infancy, someone coined the phrase "A Bag of Hurt". I think it is still a bag of hurt... but we can accomplish a whole lot more music now. Why can't Apple provide streamline resources to developers that tightly control MIDI sync, start and stop, CC control, low audio latency, automatic inter-app plug ins, etc, built-in protocols into the iOS operating system. Some of these items have been started; but on a piece meal basis. It would of been nice if Apple laid out a real integrated system from the start, that all developers could follow as an inter-app standard.
I was hoping that AudioBus would grab the bull by the horns and provide a system-wide integration of both audio and MIDI. I am not a programmer, so, I might be ignorant as to how to solve these problems. I was hoping that the iPad would not only be a quick scetch pad for music creation; but a whole new paradigm for quality music production.
MIDI is no voodoo magic, if it doesn't work right its sloppy programming ...
lets see what is falling out of apple today, maybe 8.1?
I don't get why MIDI seems such a problem, it's been around for decades now and has been proven on countless platforms that were far lower spec than an iPad
how can u tell the developer doesn't use his own stuff?
MIDI is f#cked up!
Mmm. In the spirit of this thread and just to see - I downloaded the latest version of Cubasis (which I'd deleted) and tried running various synths in combination - using IAA. I'm still running latest iOS7.
Sunrizer and Tera worked just by putting them in the slot.
Z3ta required be to fiddle around and set midi out to be to Z3ta for that track (has this always been the case?). It also refused to freeze the audio
Same for Animoog - needed me to set the midi.
IMini worked nicely - but as soon as I set midi for Animoog or Z3ta it wanted to play that too (as we all know).
Audio ok but a bit glitchy when a couple if synths playing or when changing app. Guess to be expected with these heavy synths.
Big problem was that when freezing tracks it, on all synths, it decided to reduce the tempo down from 130 BPM to about 100 BPM on the recorded audio. Totally useless in that regard. (Is this a new issue?).
Anyway. Not sure if this is because it's the ios 8 complainant version of Cubasis on iOS 7 or if it's always been like that but my conclusion:
IAA and Cubasis is pretty flakey and a pain to try and debug. A creative killer id say.
I'm going to have to stick to my Gadget + samples workflow which is a shame because I thought id try some midi/automation of synths and some FX by using Cubasis (with midi imported from the wonderful new FiddleWax).
^ I'm in the process of doing a culling with cubasis. If it doesn't work, it gets deleted. Sucks.
@papertiger said:
Are you saying you're using Cubasis to qualify your synths? If so, you might want to reconsider.
http://www.forum.audiob.us/discussion/comment/87490#Comment_87490
EDIT: I see you were part of the discussion.
iaa is a hall of mirrors, lol
everytime I test stuff apps are working fine with iaa and garageband & beatmaker
to get the same app working with cubasis and iaa it always needed adjustments
guess what, I didn't buy cubasis.
Im not sure what is going on under the surface.
what I do know is if the app is on the bus it doesn't have to use the iaa implementation of ab ...
so it looks like there a lots of right and wrong ways to implement iaa
@telecharge said:
Yeah, I'll be using sector through AB until that gets sorted. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Although I have noticed that cubasis controls aren't showing up for me in AB. Lol. Soon this rabbit hole will be too deep for me.
Yeah, eff this. I hope no one minds, but I'm putting on "School of Rock." Pass me a beer.
A little historical perspective....
The first version of iOS didn't allow for developer created applications; it was all webkit stuff. Then Apple created the App Store, released the SDK for Xcode, and let ordinary people write apps. A useful step forward, right? Worth updating to a new OS version? I think so.
Multitasking came in with iOS 4. Pretty darned useful feature.
Then MIDI, with iOS 4.2. Everybody here probably wanted that.
Along the way, support for the accelerometer, retina display, touch ID, cameras, all kinds of goodies. And each time, the operating system, some APIs, and other stuff, had to change. Some stuff broke, but in general, progress.
With 6.0 came support for Bluetooth LE. I personally thought this was a very big deal, and because it was available, I was able to write an app to send MIDI over Bluetooth. Sweet.
iOS 7.0 brought IAA, and then iOS 8.0 made it the only way to send audio (the new AB is built on top of IAA). Because it's baked in to the OS, IAA is more efficient than what could be done by the old Audiobus; things are still a little rocky, but long term, it's a winner (I'm going to hang on to the AB connection panel as long as I can, though).
iOS 8.0 also has built-in MIDI over Bluetooth. It might not be great for my app sales, but it's a good thing for the entire music making community. There's also NFC, which is very cool, and the image stabilization on the camera looks amazing. While not music related, Apple Pay could be very very big.
My point is -- things have been changing constantly. Apple is not going to stop moving, some changes will break things, and at times it's hard for developers to keep up. But no one should be surprised that things change; it's in the nature of having a programmable device.
Some music devices don't have upgrade problems. I bought a Telecaster in the 1980s, and it hasn't had a single operating system upgrade. The same is true of my old Yamaha keyboard and a Casio synth module. But these things will never be anything more than what they already are.
My iPad, however, can change; it became an amazing modular synth after I bought it. And then it became a drum machine, a multitrack recorder, sampler, looper, and a pitch-to-MIDI interface for the Tele. And it became all of these things for about the price of a few packs of guitar strings. There's a trade-off; being able to change enables the iPad to do all of these things -- but there's the potential that some things stop working. IMO, this is a good trade-off.
^ Wow, incredibly informative. Thank you so much for explaining the evolution of the different versions of iOS.
Agreed. Nice little history lesson, Professor.
Yup. +1 @ the doc.
@SecretBaseDesign said:
Yeah I understand iOS has brought some improvements, but priority #1 for any OS should always be making sure apps and programs run right, or else what good is it? It's pretty clear they have sort of staggered along regarding that. Did they really need 8 versions of iOS for the stuff you mentioned? Especially if it's at the cost of basic functionality?
On a side note, Safari actually froze while typing this message, lol... Thank you AB forum auto save draft... Kind of speaks to my point, either that or nullifying any and all Apple criticism is a new feature for iOS 8.
@1P18 said:
Just wait until they get your Touch ID.